Monday, 5 August 2013

It is
evident that Printed Circuit Board (PCB) is a core electronic component but majority
of people from diverse fields do have an idea of what it is. It is because of
the wide use and essentiality of PCBs in each and every electronic devise that
is been used today. For even the simplest of devises like an energy saver might
to a very complex design of an airplane or bioengineering machineries, the need
of a well designed and structured PCB remains persistent and equally vital. For
those who have a vague idea about the purpose and functionality of a PCB, it is
a board or slice that holds the entire circuitry of the devise together and
ensures the proper flow of current within the circuit. As the complexity level
of the devise increases, the density of components and the intricacy of the PCB
also increase. At beginners’ level, it is important to understand the basic
steps of PCB designing and PCB assembling
to get an idea of the core designing principle, and factors that drive the
level of complexity of the PCB design.

The
first step is of drawing the circuitry on any relevant software or manually to
get an idea about the size of the board. The more the components, the bigger
will be the size of the PCB and this is one important consideration before the
fabrication step is performed. The board is made up of copper which is a
conducting material. Only one side of the board is copper coated and the other
is plane, where the components will be placed.After the drawing is completed, ten it needs to be put onto the circuit
board. The term printed circuit board is
coined with the concept that the circuit is not manually drawn on the circuit
board but is printed with the help of dedicated machines to ensure accuracy and
fineness of the drawing. At beginners level however, it can be either printed
by using a circuit printout on the glossy paper or drawing the circuit manually
by a permanent board marker.

The
design is then transferred to the PCB by providing heat to the paper. A simple
method of this is by using an electric iron and pressing the paper in the
conducting side of the PCB. The next step after transferring the circuit image
is of etching, where the copper plate is watched with a solution of Ferric
Chloride to rinse out copper from the exposed area, keeping behind just the
copper covered with the circuit image.So now only the defined portion of the board, where the image is placed
can conduct and the rest acts as an insulator. All the components are now
mounted on the board and soldered by the use of soldering iron and soldering
wire. Soldering should be done very precisely to the legs of each of the
component so that no component is short circuited with the other, as the
soldering wire used is of aluminum which is conductive in nature. After
mounting and soldering is done, the PCB needs to be tested with the voltmeter
to check continuity and flow of current in the circuit.